Kiss Her Goodbye
by Pleasantries and the Aftermath
Summary: It's raining. There is blood everywhere and the tension is suffocating him while his mind is screaming at him. "She's dead! She's dead!" it cries and it is in that moment that he realizes that this is his last chance. Sasusaku. Character death.


Kiss Her Goodbye

This is something I wrote after reading something by Maiden of Sin. She's the first person I've read anything Sasusaku by in a while and I immediately fell in love with her work and it just made me want to write something like this. I think I was also inspired by this picture I saw by nami86, as well.

_Disclaimer: Do not own Naruto. _

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Rain pelts their bodies relentlessly. Locked in a battle of wills, the air stinks of blood and hatred and he admits that he is partially to blame.

"Sasuke!"

For the fraction of a second, he turns his head to see _her _and is instantly reminded that she is all he has seen for every waking moment of his life since he has left.

"Sasuke, watch out!"

He turns his head, eyes flitting over miles of trees, the blonde dobe staring at the scene in stunned mortification and paralyzed fear, then the flutter of raven feathers as a sword gleams. Red and black meet his eyes, a malicious and maniacal gleam in the eyes of the man whose shadow he has chased for years. His brother's eyes are wide and he looks so damn happy about this all and for the fraction of a second, he sees the concern and hesitation of the brother he once knew and loved before he disappears and is replaced with a monster.

"Sasuke-kun!"

He can hear her screams and her footsteps. To himself, he asks why she must care for him so much? He has resigned himself to his fate. His arms are not fast enough to block his brother's attack and he will die skewered on a sword dreaming of cherry blossom trees and rolling hills.

A shift in the air catches his attention and he pulls himself from his peace to find his vision filled with pink and the eyes of those around him staring in surprise.

"S-Sasuke-kun…"

And he looks down at the only girl who has ever had the audacity to call him that to his face, flinching as his ears are filled with her blood-filled coughs. His eyes are wide and as black as when he was a child as mortification coldly grasps his spine and he looks down to meet her half-lidded gaze.

"Sakura…w-why?" he asks with the most emotion he's shown in years. She merely smiles at him and in that moment, he finds her as beautiful as he remembers.

"Because…" she says with a note of bittersweet joy in her voice, "I w-wanted to s-save you."

It is in that moment that he realizes that this was all for him. Everything she has sacrificed and screamed over was for him and him alone. She wanted to save him and a part of him mocks her for trying while another part weeps for her. He feels pity, remorse, and guilt because she has sacrificed everything for a man who cannot be saved.

The sensation of blood seeping into his skin brings him back to the scene painted in red. The rain continues to soak their skin, but he does not feel it. Even as their body heat fades and every drop of water should create an icy burn on his skin, he does not feel it. All he can think about is the fact that she is dying. She is dying in his arms and his mind screams at him to kiss her; kiss her while she is still here and alive so she can finally know how he feels.

Cupping her face, he pulls her to him, crashing her lips against his in a violent clashing of saliva and skin. She is surprised and tenses in his arms, but he keeps pressing, desperate to throw every emotion he has ever felt for her into a kiss that is all to brief for what he wants her to know.

Gradually, she begins to relax against him, melting into the kiss and a choked sob escapes his lips as tears fall from the corners of his eyes. She has accepted him and the thought overwhelms him as more tears fall.

The kiss is brief. It is tender and bittersweet with regret and blood and pulling away, they use whatever time they have left to stare into the eyes of one another. In that moment, they wish that things had been different somehow and they pray to never be separated again. His vision begins to fade.

"Foolish otouto."

At his brother's words, Sasuke smiles. Those words do not affect him anymore. He no longer chases his brother's shadow, nor is he consumed by rage or guilt. He has been released from that and holding close the fallen form of Haruno Sakura, Uchiha Sasuke closes his eyes and dies with no regrets.


End file.
